A Declaration
by Lauren-sama
Summary: [OLD] ^^ Zel is *so* not good at saying speeches... (Z/A)


Foreword: I do not own Slayers! I'm so very sorry if Zel seems out of character here… I'm just playing on the fact that he seems to get nervous when anything romantic is concerned, so I put him in a state of incurable nerves for the greater portion of the fic. ^^ Constructive criticism only, please! 

--------------------------

Zelgadis steeled himself. He took a deep breath, thinking this over. It had taken him weeks to get up the courage to do this and think it through. He was now ready. He was prepared. He was strong.

"…I think I'm going to go back to my tent," he announced quickly as he made a U-turn in an attempt to go back the way he had come. Unfortunately, a hand stopped him.

"You're not escaping this, Zel," Lina announced firmly as she pulled him back. "Go through with this right now or I'll fireball you." She grinned her trademark Evil Lina Grin ™, and Zel shuddered. He faintly remembered the conversation they had had earlier.

*.*.*

_"You're gonna hafta serenade her."_

"W-what?!" Zelgadis exclaimed in shock as he spit out his coffee. 

"You heard me," Lina replied smugly.

"Why in the world do I have to serenade_ her, of all things?" he protested. "Why can't it be just a nice simple confession? Besides, there aren't any balconies for her to be serenade _from_."_

"Just go up to her and say the fancy speech with the roses, then," Lina amended. She sighed. "Look, Zel, you've gotta consider Amelia's background here. She's undoubtedly read tens- no, hundreds _of sappy romance novels, and in each and every one of them there's an incredibly drawn-out declaration of first love. To meet up with her expectations, you have to do that too!"_

"…And you won't let me put this off?"

"Hey, you_ were the one walking in endless circles around the camp, worrying about the thing like a nervous duck. It was driving me insane!" Lina exclaimed. "So no, there's no way I'll let you postpone this."_

*.*.*

Zelgadis sighed, his face growing beet-red as he pictured what he was going to do. He, the incredibly _non_-romantic, overly-serious and logical chimera was going to just waltz into yonder grove and give flowers and a fancy confession of undying love to the crown princess of Saillune.

He was screwed.

"Come on, Zel! Move it!" Lina hissed. Nervously, Zel took a step forward.

Then, his nerves getting the better of him, he leapt back.

Wherein he was immediately shot into the grove by a rather pissed-off Lina. And he had the dignity and grace to trip over his feet and fall flat on his face.

Amelia blinked in confusion as she saw Zelgadis all but fall into the clearing.

"Zelgadis-san!" she exclaimed as she ran over to help him up. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine…" he groaned as he got up. His face flushed once again as Amelia helped him sit down on the stump she had previously occupied. She looked at him curiously.

Crickets chirped. 

"…Umm…" Amelia began awkwardly, "Why exactly are you here, Zelgadis-san?"

"O- oh! That! Yes! Umm…" He went silent again, as he looked around wildly for any hint of advice; anything to help him in this awkward position. His eyes landed on the sky. "Umm… Nice weather we're having, isn't it?"

"If you say so…" Amelia replied in a puzzled tone as she glanced at the murky gray and cloudy sky. Zelgadis mentally cursed.

'Idiot!' he reprimanded himself. 'Of all the stupid ways to start a conversation…'

"…So," Amelia began again. "Did you… err… just come over to talk about the weather?"

"Yes- No wait! No! That's not what I meant!" Zelgadis fumbled awkwardly, before growing silent once again. Amelia studied his blushing face.

"Well then, what exactly _did_ you come here to talk about, Zelgadis-san?" she inquired. Taking a deep breath, he nervously pulled out the by now rather crushed flowers he had carried in with him.

"These- umm.. These are for you…" he said nervously, holding them out.

"Oh! They're beautiful, Zelgadis-san! Thank you so much!" Amelia gushed as she happily accepted them.

"And- umm- err… Well… I just kinda wanted to say… uhh… you're very pretty," he stated lamely, preparing himself for his speech.

"You- you think so?" Amelia asked, her cheeks beginning to tinge pink. Zelgadis nodded.

"Yes… Your skin's… umm… really smooth… like…" Zelgadis searched his mind for a suitable simile, nervousness befuddling his senses. "Like… umm… a banana peel…"

Only after he said it did he realize what an unflattering comparison that was, and his eyes widened.

"Ah! No! It's like- err- a rose petal! Soft and smooth! Yes!" Zelgadis amended quickly, sighing with relief as he began to move off awkward ground. "And your hair's really beautiful too… It's so silky and shiny, like the feathers of a raven…" There. Much better, if he said so himself.

"Zelgadis-san…" Amelia remarked shyly, her face awash with happiness. "That's such a nice thing for you to say… Thank you."

It was getting easier now. "And you have a very sweet smile, and a charming disposition," he continued, as Amelia turned her head away at the compliments. "You're remarkably sweet. And your eyes… They're such a lovely shade of-"

Zelgadis stopped. His eyes suddenly widened with horror, as he realized something.

'Oh crap. I just forgot the color of Amelia's eyes.'

"Umm… They're such a beautiful…" he tried again, but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember what color eyes she had. Why did this have to happen _now_?! Were the greater beings above all out to get him, or something? He desperately looked towards Amelia, but her head was still turned away, so he couldn't tell. He mentally began to swear as he racked through his mind in panic.

'They're green, right? I could've sworn- no, no, that's not it… Brown? Red- no, that's Lina's eye color… Definitely not purple… Blue? Or is that Gourry's? Argh!'

"…My eyes are such a lovely shade of what, Zelgadis-san?" Amelia asked.

"Oh… They're such a lovely- lovely shade of…"

Amelia tensed slightly. "You _do_ know, don't you?"

"Of- of course I know!" he lied. "H- how could I forget such an important aspect of you? Eyes are the window to the soul, after all…" Great. Now he was beginning to spew out random quotes.

"Then why are you hesitating?" Amelia asked, a hint of suspicion in her tone. "I would _think_ that you would have noticed after multiple years traveling with me…"

"Your eyes…. Umm… Well, actually… I was hesitating… because I honestly couldn't think of anything worthy of comparison." Zelgadis sighed in relief. Save! He had done it!

"…Really? You- you mean that?" she asked, edging closer to him.

"O- of course. You're beautiful, Amelia. Like an angel," he complimented, shifting back to his poetic mode. "Which… which brings me to why I kinda came out here, really…" he remarked, getting nervous now that the declaration was so close at hand. 

And then, of course, the implications of what he was about to do decided to crash down on him.

'Aah! What in the heck do I think I'm _doing_?! I'm just about to confess my love to the princess of Saillune, for god's sake! I'm a chimera! A freak! And a commoner, to boot! I don't even know if she likes me! If we do get married, Prince Phil's going to become my father-in-law!' He shuddered, as only one thing became predominant in his mind- escape. He looked around the clearing wildly, but of course Amelia _had_ to choose that moment to put her arm on his shoulder.

"Zelgadis-san? Why did you come out here?" She gazed curiously at him with a wide-eyed, innocent gaze.

And it was that gaze that reminded Zelgadis exactly why he had fallen in love with her.

"I- I'm… well," he began, "I'm really not all that good at saying speeches. But I know you're the kind of person who really liked them, so I tried to give you the best speech I could attempt… I didn't do a very good job though," he remarked with a sheepish smile. "I'm probably acting like an idiot, I'm sorry. I would have told you this sooner, but I didn't realize it at first and couldn't bring myself to admit it later. But after all that time worrying, I've finally brought myself to tell you…" He took a deep breath. "I- well, the truth is… I love you, Amelia."

'So her eyes are blue,' his subconscious registered absentmindedly as Amelia's eyes suddenly grew watery

"Zel- Zelgadis san…" she said softly as she embraced him in a firm hug. "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that!"

After taking a moment to register what she had just said, a smile appeared on Zelgadis's face, as he slowly wrapped his arms around the princess. They were silent for a few seconds.

"Did I say that okay?" he asked quietly as he looked down at her.

"You did wonderfully," Amelia replied warmly. "I never knew that you could be so romantic."

"Phew," Zelgadis sighed in enormous relief as he got that burden off his shoulders.

Suddenly, the figure in his arms abruptly tensed.

"What do you mean, 'phew'?" Amelia asked slowly as she raised her head to look at him.

"I'm just glad to get that whole thing over with," he replied, not catching her tone until it was too late.

"'Glad to get that whole thing over with'?" Amelia quoted suspiciously.

"Ah! No! No! I didn't mean-"

"The declaration of love is supposed to be the most romantic thing of all, and you just go 'phew' AND ARE GLAD IT'S OVER WITH?!" Amelia thundered. 

"No! I didn't mean it! Honestly!" Zel denied desperately, knowing he was in for a lengthly justice speech.

~*~

"They're sure making a lot of noise," Gourry commented as he looked up from polishing his sword.

"You're right," Lina agreed. 

"It'll probably stop soon, though," Gourry hypothesized.

"Eh?"

"Amelia likes Zel too much to really get mad at him. She'll calm down in a few minutes."

Lina stopped cooking dinner. "But- how in the world did you-"

"Know? It was obvious that she liked him and that he liked her back. He's gone, so obviously he went there today to tell her that he liked her, and probably messed up on his confession somewhere along the way." Gourry chuckled. "Honestly, Lina, you treat me as if I'm some kind of idiot."

Lina sighed in exasperation. "Figures…" she muttered.

"See?" Gourry observed after a few seconds of silence. "They've stopped now. You think we should tell them that dinner's gonna be ready soon?"

"Nah…" she replied with a smile. "I've got a feeling that they're gonna be in that clearing for a while…"

-----------------------------------

Afterword: ^^ Gee, I seem to be making a habit of short semi-comical Zel-Ame one shots, don't I? I know this was probably a bit rushed and awkward in places… But I didn't really know how to fix it, so a bit rushed and awkward it remains for the time being 'til I can think of a way to make it better. I hope it was at least semi-good, though…


End file.
